Friday Five: Guilty Pleasures

It happened again this week. In a social setting, during a conversation with people that included some I had just met, I made a reference to the church I serve. “Oh!” one of the new acquaintances exclaimed, “I shouldn’t have said hell!” Sigh. This kind of projection can be so tiring, as can the general need to be mindful of how our words and actions are perceived as appropriate (or not). In light of that, I relish moments to myself when I can shed all such perceptions and projections and just be. Occasionally this involves what might be known as a guilty pleasure.

For this week’s Friday Five, share with us five “perception be damned!” pleasures in which you indulge. We promise we won’t judge, or tell. What happens at RevGals stays at RevGals.

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35 thoughts on “Friday Five: Guilty Pleasures”

1. coloring at Association meetings to focus on the speakers, to create something beautiful, and to pass the time if the speaker is uninteresting or hard to understand. Yes, I spread out my markers and crayons on the table in front of me and now I don’t give a darn if someone thinks this to be unprofessional or immature or childish. Chances are that I will recall the info presented better than I would if I just sat there. Seriously. But I don’t do this if we are having more intimate conversation at the table.
2. The occasional, well-placed and well-deserved F-bomb.
3. Soap, fragrant and lovely, at craft fairs, at Marshall’s, at specialty stores. I love soap!
4. Wearing jeans to work and combined with more “serious” clothing. Until someone includes a clothing allowance, this will be both vice and pleasure. Jesus didn’t have multiple tunics.
5. Prayer beads and “rosaries” pulled out when I need something tangible to touch. See number 1. These can be viewed with suspicion in various communities. But I find them healing and helpful. See number 1, again.
6. Not worrying about what people think. This has been a journey…but it has also been a guilty pleasure. Not to rebel, but to live authentically. We talked about this at a Bi happy hour yesterday and how refreshing that was to hear other people’s perspectives.

I considered the most important thing I could do as the Pastor was to be authentic. Personally, I find it extremely frustrating when others’ projections get in the way of seeing who I am – a follower of Jesus, an ordinary human being in the world. Probably that is our most powerful witness to the Gospel. God doesn’t call saints to the life of faith – God calls ordinary, flawed, good/bad human beings. Here is my list of 5. I love the question, by the way!
1. Getting a tattoo of a dragonfly – a feminine, indigenous symbol! – for my 60th birthday.
2. Swearing – as someone else has written, letting the “f-bomb” fly!
3. Spending free time looking at apartments – high-end apartments! – in New York City.
4. Enjoying beautiful things, clothes, etc., and really caring about how I dress – and also enjoying buying beautiful things second hand.
5. Laughing as often as possible – I have not been that dour, serious clergy!
Thank you for asking!

Not too long after I started here, we had to hire a new janitor. I and the three trustees (all men) did the interviews. We had one guy who laid it on real thick about how wonderful he was, how valuable to his boss at one of the local grocery stores, how that boss would just be thrilled to help him with table set-up and stuff if called on. When he left, two of the trustees got up and left the room for whatever reason, and the chair looked at me and asked me, “So what did you think of him?”

I replied, “I think he’s full of shit.”

Well, ol’ Melvin looked shocked for a minute that a preacher–a female one, at that–would say such a thing. But he got over it, and then proceeded to tell the story, pretty proudly, to anybody he could get to listen. That’s when I knew I’d won him over.

1. Sleeping late. Even on work days (other than Sunday, when stuff starts at the church at 8:15) I’m rarely up before 8 a.m. Sometimes I feel bad about this because I live in a farming community, and some substantial numbers of my church folks have probably already put in a full day’s work by the time I drag my lazy bones out of the bed.
2. 2011 Camaro. I don’t know that I need to say anything more about that.
3. Single malt Scotch. Lagavulin 16 is my favorite.
4. Shoes. A couple years ago I took ten pairs of shoes with me when I counseled at church camp for a week. This fall I bought myself a pair of blue suede shoes.
5. Way too damn many cats. My husband shares responsibility for this one. We’re not hoarders; everybody in our house is healthy, spayed/neutered, and up-to-date on shots. But we do have a houseful. (Which reminds me…I need to call the vet.)

sshhh! we’re “down” to ten. (We had eleven, plus a stray tom I was feeding and gentling on the front porch; but lost that tom and one of the Juniors a couple months ago.) I keep my Sunday clothes in my church office so I don’t show up in worship looking like I’m wearing a fur coat.

Re #5: Sometimes you just gotta have grub. I don’t care about those chicken & dumplings, but put a can of tamales in front of me and I’m happy. (Came by it honest… my dad’s been through quite a bit health-wise in the past few months, and lost his appetite for some time. When it came back he wanted tamales. My mom had some big tamales she’d bought from a local store, and some my cousin the chef had made; but what he wanted was the canned ones. Gotta do what you gotta do.)

Love this Friday Five! Guilty pleasures…
1. Cocktails & champagne
2. X Factor/Simon Cowell….I know, I know….
3. Cream buns, preferably two at a time.
4. Facebook….an addict I confess
5. Travelling with my hubby. I love the planning, the actual trips and spending time just the two of us. This usually involves lots of No.1

Guilty pleasures? (wistful sigh) I don’t do any of them near often enough! But when I do, I enjoy:
1. My motorcycle – open road, wind in my face, going fast and leaving the cares of the world behind.
2. Dressing in my black leathers from tip to toe to enjoy number 1.
3. Dressing ‘to the nines’ for the all-too-rare special occasions, including high heels and beautiful inherited jewelry.
4. Going on vacation somewhere very warm and not needing to pack much more than swimsuits.
5. Wine, beer, and a newly acquired taste for whiskey and courvoisier cognac.

1. Glad to know I’m not the only facebook addict.
2. Good Merlot.
3. Audiobook fiction in the car when I should be listening to inspiring podcasts.
4. Pie, almost any kind, twice a day. (Rare, but possible!)
5. Scrabble with worthy opponents.

Guilty pleasures is something I came to late in life just like ministry. After raising six children I tell my self they are well deserved.

1. Condiments….chutneys, vinegars, mustard’s, sauces and good Italian olive oil and my favorite, somebody’s homemade red pepper jelly
2. a bright colored purse, red is the color for this fall
3. an afternoon out alone, just me and my camera and a bag full of lenses and filters
4. must admit to the occasional “F bomb” strategically placed for full effect
5. getting all dressed up from the inside out to the ballroom gown for an evening of ballroom dancing and a nigh out…glitz and glam